live blogging the FO finals

4:56 PM, Game, set and match, Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (2) Well big props to Schiavone for closing out the match like she did. We really dig the whole kissing-the-clay thing. Upping Guga‘s classic heart by making love to the clay with your mouth, not your racket.

4:41 PM, Schiavone leads 6-4, 6-all There is now the potential for this thing to turn into a high-quality, dramatic three-set affair. Could the WTA actually see its saviors in the games of these two relative unknowns? It’s been dang fun to watch such good tennis for two sets and 90 minutes thus far. I’m also digging the extra-cheesyGeico and Billie Jean King commercial.

4:29 PM, Schiavone leads 6-4, 4-all Stosur is tightening up here as the Italian has won the last three games to even up the second set. Can we see the first three-set women’s final since 2001?

4:07 PM, Schiavone leads 6-4, 1-2 Loving the NBC editors for their choice of exit-out music for commercials, so far including the SATC2 theme song, Beyonce and Britney. Diva music for two non-divas.

Meanwhile, we’re thinking that the Franny Faithful would make a great Jersey Shore spin-off. The hair! The muscles! The sunglasses! Stosur has nothing on these boys.

3:57 PM, Schiavone wins first set 6-4 (Good news!) Schiavone is playing with heart and (bad news!) Stosur is playing with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Let’s see if a clean court can give Sammy a clean conscience. (BEST news!) Mary Pierce sighting in the first row of the far side of the court. Like a summer bride, she’s wearing all white.

3:46 PM What quality so far! The tennis Tweeters are all a-twitter over the strength of play that these girls are producing out on court. If this would have been a Dementieva-Jankovic final, Elena would already have cried a couple of times and Jelena would be screaming obscenities in Serbian at Snezana, neither players having hit a single winner.

3:33 PM The last time we had such a star-less final was in 2004, when Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva played a disastrous title match. Already this match has been more entertaining than that one, probably because Stosur and Schiavone have much more experience (a combined age of 55) than the two Russians did six years ago (combined age of 44).

3:17 PM The boys are really giving the edible facts to start off the match. They better hope the tennis holds so they can talk about the quality of play later. Especially with no Mary to ramble. A few samples: the two ladies played each other at Roland Garros last year in the first round; Stosur is one of the few ladies who wears sunglasses on tour; Schiavone’s entire hometown has flown to Paris for the final; and the doubles game is to the quality of tennis as water is to the growth of flowers.

3:02 PM, Paris time Our first shot of the players. Francesca Schiavone looks playful and relaxed in front of the camera and waves to the crowd as she walks out, while Samantha Stosur has a steely look (a al Safina?!) and makes no gesture to the crowd as she approaches her chair.